Friday, 30 December 2011

Ms. NA is the only person I know who writes sticky notes and email bursts that deserve a Pulitzer Prize. Succinct. Funny. Ironic. Dark. All in less than 200 words. Right brainers need not apply.
NA is a Toronto based over-night pharmacist to the stars ( well, Randy Macho Man Savage once stopped by her store after midnight - unsuccessfully looking for smokes). This self-taught writer produces such lyrical reviews that we classically trained journalists (Ryerson Pyrotechnical Institute ;-) ) want to weep and, of course, instantly plagiarize.
Be it cutting notes about over-the-counter pizzas, or scathing emails about nasty neighbours, her emails are worthy of public consumption. The following, with a bit of preamble by me is the latest missive that had me in awe and using my oft neglected dictionary!

So what about Splendido and Dining Date Night?

This email is in response to a question that was put to her about the value of a new discount programme for some of Toronto's most ritzy (i.e expensive) restaurants. The wag jag style programme is called diningdatenight.com. You pay the online company $10.00 and they say they will get you deep discounts at chi chi restaurants.
We are always interested in discounts but unwilling to part with a fin because of an internet come-on, so we asked NA about her recent experience with diningdatenight at Splendido ... a restaurant that once charged us $64.00 for a few rounds of bottled water (I won't tell you what the meal cost).
Below is NA's take on the Internet discount programme and the College Street eatery:

DINING DATE NIGHT AND SPLENDIDO

Yup .. a friend and I saved $72 off of our total bill! you do have to take a subprime table in the "retro-storage room" or " the hyperboreanesque cool of the meat locker" (;-p) .. the meal was the best I've had in North America this year (including a close 2nd by Popeye's. I have a diversely discerning palate - have you evah had creole onion rings, o' Lordy Darla Sue!) - PEI oysters came with such interesting toppings as a boozy apple calvados puree, champagne foam and horseradish vodka, the rosemary focaccia bread was my culinary carbohydrate holy communion - if transubstantiation was fo real yo - the spirit in the sky would def choose this as his hotrod.
... other apps we downloaded include soft pillowy agnolotti with pumpkin & ricotti - yielded to the bite so willingly.. the most nubile of a terrorist martyr's 72 virgins .. bedded on clouds of milk foam, amaretti and pumpkin seeds, & Fois gras parfait (need I say more..) with pear puree.
Mains were lamb & sweetbreads with date chutney ... which I didn't taste, as enthralled as I was with the veal tenderloin with smoked brisket and bone marrow jus with oyster mushrooms. Desserts were white chocolate cheesecake with apples, apple sorbet & cheddar cheese on the side, & chocolate/caramel verrine - a sort of parfait/sundae with peanut ice cream - had Nutcracker cafe p.c. - frangelico, malibu rum & amaretto.. def recommend the website (diningdatenight) - have a good selection of restos - I paid 10$ and we saved 72$ betwixt us both.

Thursday, 15 December 2011

Sculptor Joe Fafard now has two large bronze bisons in Winnipeg

Two huge bronze bison now watch over the main lobby of Manitoba Hydro Place in downtown Winnipeg.

The fanciful sculptures, created by award-winning Canadian artist Joe Fafard, were revealed to the public at a special ceremony yesterday (Tuesday December 13). Each standing over 2.4 metres high and weighing over 450 kilograms, the double-sided sculptures were installed in alcoves on either side of the Graham Avenue entrance to the building, and gaze both inwards to the main floor gallery and outwards to the street.
Cultural Asset Management Group, a Toronto firm owned by Shelley Falconer and Shawna White, two well-known Canadian art experts are under contract to help the public utility establish this vibrant public art program. Culural Asset Management Group has worked with Mr. Fafard on previous occassions and facilitated this outstanding commission.

The statues installed in Winnipeg are the first of an eventual six that will grace Hydro's headquarters. Two more adult bison statues will be placed in similar alcoves at the building's Portage Avenue entrance, while one bronze bison calf will be placed outdoors near each entrance, under the watchful gaze of the adults.

"Being able to feature works from an artist of Mr. Fafard's stature is a tremendous opportunity, and to have him create something that is so unique yet at the same time so representative of Manitoba, is very exciting. It's only fitting that the award-winning Manitoba Hydro Place feature artwork from a similarly prominent and world-renowned artist" said Bob Brennan, President and CEO of Manitoba Hydro.

"At Manitoba Hydro, we are proud to be able to use the public spaces of our building to showcase and support Canadian artists."

Born and raised in Ste. Marthe, Saskatchewan, Fafard graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg in 1966, before going on to complete a Masters of Arts at Pennsylvania State University in 1968. While studying close to New York City, he spent much time at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art and the Museum of Modern Art. He was inspired to explore ceramics while teaching sculpture and pottery at the University of Saskatchewan in Regina. In 1974 when he resigned from teaching, he devoted all his time to sculpture. He earned his first large commission, the Toronto Dominion Bank's new public art installation in 1984, then in 1985 he opened his own foundry, Julienne Atelier Inc.

Fafard said he often chooses prairie animals as his subjects, such as cows, bulls, and horses because they have the ability to remind us that we all share the same resources on this planet, and that in this way we can understand the relationship we have with nature, through agriculture. These prairie animals act as muse and also pay homage to the land and the community.

"I hope that having people see something that gives them some awe for a fellow creature can translate into some care for the environment," Fafard said.Cultural Assets Management Group provides integrated art management services to private collectors, corporations, governments and the non-for-profit community. Here in Toronto CAM has provided art management services to the Toronto District School Board in support of their large and valuable art collection. The company, located in the GTA, stores valuable art and artefact collections in a secure, 30,000 sq ft environment, and provides consulting services across Canada.

Monday, 12 December 2011

Wirestory that I issued this morning. Will be of interest to Diversity and Business Editors

RBC Sponsorship of Upcoming Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference in March 2012 Announced

TORONTO, Dec. 12, 2011 /CNW/ - The Diversity Business Network, (DBN), is pleased to announce that RBC, Canada's largest bank, will be the presenting sponsor at the Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference 2012 - Diversity Our Economic Strength. "The Canada of today reflects diversity, and diversity for growth and innovation is one of RBC's key values," states Jennifer Tory, Regional President for Greater Toronto Region at RBC. "As presenting sponsor for the March conference, we hope to create opportunities to share ideas, collaborate and explore possibilities to help diverse-owned businesses develop, grow, and prosper across all our communities," Tory comments.

RBC annually issues a Diversity Progress Report highlighting its initiatives and achievements based on the theme that diversity makes us stronger. RBC has received international recognition for its commitment to diversity as one of four companies that received the 2010 Catalyst Award for Diversity. In 2011 Ms. Tory received special recognition from Catalyst Canada for her role in championing women and diversity in business. Catalyst is an organization founded on the principles of advancing culture-changing efforts within business through diversity and inclusion.

"We are thrilled to have RBC as presenting sponsor for the 2012 Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference," states Courtney Betty, President and Founder of DBN. "RBC has demonstrated what is possible when a Canadian business makes diversity a core value in its hiring and supply chain practices," he continues.

DBN was founded to create greater awareness among government, NGOs and corporations about the talent and capability of diverse-owned businesses in Canada and the cultural and economic contributions they can make to the country and the world. At the first conference held in the fall of 2010 in Toronto over 350 diverse-owned businesses and corporations participated. The focus of the 2012 conference, to be held at the Allstream Center at Exhibition Place on Friday, March 23, will be on the economic impact of diversity in the Canadian supply chain. Diverse-owned businesses along with Canadian companies seeking diverse suppliers will meet in a forum and breakout sessions to learn about each other and about practical ways to work together.

The keynote speaker will be Stephen Frost, Head of Diversity and Inclusion for London 2012, the organizing body for the upcoming Olympic Games. He will be joined by speakers from RBC and other leading executives from the public and private sector across North America who will talk about how they are addressing diversity in their procurement strategies. Breakout themed sessions will focus on how companies and organizations can transform their business practices through understanding, implementing and measuring supplier diversity.

About The Diversity Business Network

DBN provides tools, strategies and systems for corporations to become world-class leaders and benefactors of supplier diversity. Our mission is to make diversity in the supply chain a cornerstone of corporate Canada and to establish the standard by which supplier diversity effectiveness is measured within business and government.

In response to the large number of publishers' submissions that are received each year and the opportunity to promote the best of these books in the all-important Christmas bookselling season, the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation have decided to make public the books that are still under consideration by the 2012 prize jury. Thirty-five publishers from across North America and around the world have submitted 115 titles this year. Today, jurors Allan M. Brandt, Stevie Cameron, and Susan Renouf announced the first longlist ever issued for The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.
The longlisted titles are:

Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter by Carmen Aguirre, published by Douglas & McIntyre

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis, published by Knopf Canada

The Patrol: Seven Days in the Life of a Canadian Soldier in Afghanistan by Ryan Flavelle, published by HarperCollins

Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe by Charlotte Gill, published by Greystone Books

Nation Maker: Sir John A. MacDonald: His Life, Our Times Volume Two: 1867 - 1891 by Richard Gwyn, published by Random House Canada

The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit by J. J. Lee, published by McClelland & Stewart

Facing the Hunter: Reflections on a Misunderstood Way of Life by David Adams Richards, published by Doubleday Canada

Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live by Ray Robertson, published by Biblioasis

Afflictions and Departures: Essays by Madeline Sonik, published by Anvil Press

The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery by Andrew Westoll, published by HarperCollins

Bad Animals: A Father's Accidental Education in Autism by Joel Yanofsky, published by Viking Canada

Prize Founder Noreen Taylor commented: "Last year, at our 10th anniversary, the jury informed us that there were so many additional titles so close to being named to the shortlist that we realized it was time to issue a longlist. Now, as I look at the longlisted titles, it is clear that it was the right decision. Our jury has sorted through the 115 submissions and selected a longlist that is diverse in subject and treatment. Having already read a number of these books, I know that the jury has lived up to our mandate. They have Recognized Excellence."
The jurors for The 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction are Allan M. Brandt, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, award-winning author Stevie Cameron, and well-respected editor and consultant Susan Renouf. Full biographies of the jurors can be found here: http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2012/jury_12.asp
The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are Michael Bradley (Toronto), Judith Mappin (Montreal), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor (Toronto). They established The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction to commemorate the life and work of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada's foremost essayists and a prominent member of the Canadian literary community. Charles Taylor was a foreign correspondent with The Globe and Mail and the author of four books: Radical Tories; Reporter in Red China; Six Journeys: A Canadian Pattern; and Snow Job.
The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is awarded annually to the author whose book best combines an excellent command of the English language, an elegance of style, quality of thought, and subtlety of perception. The prize consists of $25,000 for the winning author and $2,000 for each of the remaining finalists. All of the shortlisted titles receive extensive national publicity and marketing support.
The Charles Taylor Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of its partners: RBC Wealth Management (Presenting Sponsor); Windfields Farm (Major Sponsor); CBC Books, CNW Group, Quill & Quire, and The Globe and Mail (Media Sponsors); and Ben McNally Books, Indigo Books and Music, the International Festival of Authors (IFOA), and Kobo Inc. (In-Kind Sponsors).
The 2012 prize shortlist will be announced on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 and the winner on Monday, March 5, 2012 at events to be held in downtown Toronto.
For more information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca
and follow us at www.twitter.com/taylorprize
To download high resolution images of the jury, visit:www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2012/photogallery_12.asp

Friday, 9 December 2011

The Charles Taylor Prize For Literary Non-Fiction To Announce Its First Longlist On Monday Morning

TORONTO, Dec. 8, 2011 /CNW/ - The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction jury will announce on Monday, December 12th, its longlist of book titles. This is the first time that the annual prize will be issuing the names of the authors now in contention for the 2012 Prize. The 2012 Prize Jury members are Allan M. Brandt, Stevie Cameron, and Susan Renouf.

The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is awarded annually to the author whose book best combines an excellent command of the English language, an elegance of style, quality of thought, and subtlety of perception. The prize consists of $25,000 for the winning author and $2,000 for each of the remaining finalists. All of the shortlisted titles receive extensive national publicity and marketing support.
The Charles Taylor Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of its partners: RBC Wealth Management (Presenting Sponsor); Windfields Farm (Major Sponsor); CBC Books, CNW Group, Quill & Quire, and The Globe and Mail (Media Sponsors); and Ben McNally Books, Indigo Books and Music, the International Festival of Authors (IFOA), and Kobo Inc. (In-Kind Sponsors). The 2012 longlist will be issued at 8am Monday, December 12th by CNW. The 2012 prize shortlist will be announced on Tuesday, January 10 and the winner on Tuesday, March 5, at events to be held in downtown Toronto. The prize website is: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca

Friday, 2 December 2011

.STEPHEN JOBS' DEVICES HAVE CHANGED HOW PROFESSIONALS STAGE PRESS CONFERENCES FOR THE ARTS IN TORONTO THESE DAYS

The day of cameramen staying off stage are over - OSC presser

Last month when the Ontario Science Centre (OSC) held a media launch for an exhibition of miniature working models of some of Leonardo da Vinci's greatest inventions, Massimiliano Lisa, curator of the traveling show, dedicated the day to the memory of Stephen Job. Lisa (no relation to Mona) compared the game changing genius of Da Vinci to the intellect of the recently departed head of Apple.
The room full of science geeks agreed with the visiting curator. Little did they know how much Stephen Jobs has changed how PR people like me stage media events – including the event they were at.
In the old days - a year ago - there was a certain never-stray-from blue print for the physical set-up of a press event. The appearance at pressers of the I-Pad, the I-Phone and vastly improved lightweight cameras, video recorders and audio recorders has forced publicists in the non-profit Arts sector to change how media events are set up and run.

BACK IN 2010: there is a raised well lit stage, a podium (large enough to hold radio tape machines - and at an angle not too acute so they won't slide off), seating for 20, a raised platform for video cameras, a sound board where cameras and audio recorders can plug in and a check-in table where the media can leave their contact numbers and pick up press kits, DVD photo/avi files and small capacity memory sticks loaded with releases and photos. The audio speakers are hidden from view and there are power bars on the floor for the cameras and their lights.

Blogger with baby at CBC Canada Reads launch in Toronto.

NOW IN 2011 as many bloggers and social media journalists are showing up at pressers with Jobs-generation equipment as there are traditional media journalists. And while regular media people tend to travel in packs with bulky power hungry video cameras, a whack of large format cameras, lap tops (for post event editing) and bulky sound recording devices the needs for the social media are completely different. Publicists need publicity, and social media delivers just that ... social media attending events are as important as regular media so changes to the set up of the room have had to be made.

WHERE ARE THE AUDIO SPEAKERS?

At the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, (where I help out) a decision was made several years ago to have the public address speakers in the Great Hall hidden in the ceiling, 10-metres above the stage. The reasoning back then was that media would not record off the speakers but instead would plug into a soundboard to get a direct distortion-free feed from the podium microphones. Audio speakers were seen as a visual distraction.

I-PHONE IS A PORTABLE AUDIO RECORDER FOR MANY REPORTERS

This was a "sound" philosophy back then, but, nowadays it doesn't work that way. Many attendees at press conferences now use I-phones and other smart phone units to record the spoken word. Trouble is, there isn't a universal plug-in size for smart phones and digital recorders to record off those old technology AV sounds boards. Most I-phone journalists now stand as close as they can to event loud speakers and hold their phones like pizzas to record the sound until their arm gives out!

reporter uses IPhone to collect sound bites

I saw this last month at the Art Gallery of Ontario opening of a Marc Chagall painting exhibition. A social media reporter (see photo) wanted audio of the European curators talking about the Marc Chagall exhibition so he stood near the speaker columns and held up his I-phone to get the bits that he needed for his on-line radio show!

PLATFORM FOR CAMERAS NOT AS CROWDED AS IT USED TO BE

The traditional press conference platform for cameras on tripods was important to give unobstructed TV newsroom footage of the speeches. The raised platform gives a clear shot at the stage. Trouble is in 2011, with people using lightweight cameras, the static camera shot is no longer important.
At the Sun traditional photographers are going the way of the reel-to-reel recorder. Reporters are expected shoot stills, video and take notes at pressers. Nowadays reporters, social media practioners and camera people are everywhere doing everything. Sitting on the floor in front. Standing in the wings. Getting shots from behind the stage. Sometimes they aren't even in the room depending instead on SKYPE and on-line coverage of the conference (provided by the host of the presser).

SOCIAL MEDIA JOURNALISTS DON'T KNOW THEIR PLACE

Cameraman from mainstream media have to compete with new reporters who have no sense of the old press conference decorum (stay in your seat till the speeches are over) and are prone to wandering on the stage with their cameras in hand. Take a look at the posted photo from the Da Vinci press conference where a CBC TV crew followed a social media camera person and came right up on stage, uninvited, to get a close-up of a musician playing (for the very first time) the Leonardo invention of the Harpsichord-Viola.
And, with more and more reporters using I-Pads to shoot video, there is no need for a tripod. Their shot sequences, because of arm fatigue, tend to be very short. And the best I-Pad video shots are as close as possible to the action. Compare the footprint of an I-Pad reporter and a TV crew at the same AGO presser (for the Marc Chagall exhibition) as pictured below.

In-gallery traditional TV interview

Reporter captures images of Chagall with I-Pad

NOT JUST VIDEO CAMERAS ANYMORE

This summer at the Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto parade there were three media outlets using IPads on the parade route compared to none last year! As well, media at the Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival (formally known as Caribana), gave up on bulky and expensive digital video cameras and used cheaper Cannon still-cameras to shoot high def video as well as traditional photographs (http://20minutesoffame.blogspot.com/2011/09/we-dont-need-no-stinking-video-cameras.html)

PRESS KITS GOING GOING GONE

Press kits are really just a collection of factoid documents and pictures that tell journalists what they just saw at a media event. They are meant to be used when the reporter returns to the newsroom to write a story. In 2011 some reporters come to events and tweet and blog while the conference is unfolding. By the time they get their press kit - be it in print or on a loaded memory stick – their story has already been filed. That press kit is passé before it has even been opened. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/15648554@N05/6312275353/in/photostream)
To make sure media is better informed publicists are now more willing to embargo information so that journalists and their editors are better informed for their instant reportage. (Of course, that means media can decide not to attend press events if the information isn't newsworthy or interesting enough). And, with social media’s demand for live theatre, presser are becoming more male/female show-and-tell events rather than the male dominating talking head pressers of 2010.
REDUCE THE NUMBER OF CHAIRS AND BRING IN THE BAR TABLES

To accommodate this new style instant journalism, press events now are providing several tables (round bar tables are the favoured flavour of the month) to allow social media to work on their I-Pads and I-Books as the presser unfolds. Good-bye chairs and coffee tables. Lighting takes into account that social media can be covering an event from a variety of spots in the room.

MAKE ROOM FOR THE HELMET CAM AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS

Make Room For The Helmet Cam

My son Andrew and I took in the Toronto premier of My Week With Marilyn last week at the Varsity Theatre. Big event. Too many invites sent out, so many people with tickets were turned away. We were two of the lucky ones - and paid for our luck by sitting in the neck craning front row. Our tickets were thanks to McMichael Canadian Art Collection Marilyn Monroe curator Chris Finn. He had assisted with the promotion of the movie by Alliance Films. Always interesting to watch other PR people work their events. At the end of the film the evening's publicist set up director Simon Curtis outside the theatre for a quick interview with a social media reporter. Have no idea who the fellow was, but, he didn't seem to feel silly (nor did Simon Curtis) conducting the interview with his camera/I-Pod mounted on his bike helmet! Photo by Andrew Weir.

NEWSTIME IS BOOZETIME

In the Stephen Jobs world, when you hold a presser depends on who you expect to come. Traditional media like to have news conferences in the late morning or early afternoon Monday to Friday. Rush hour is over and there is time to get the facts and return to the newsroom to file the story before quiting time. No liquor or food is served, but coffee is appreciated.
Now if you are playing to social media, you gotta realize that a lot of these people work during the day at real jobs and can't cover an 11am presser. 6pm is not a bad thing if you are pushing a message to You Tube, Twitter and Facebook auidences! Saturday and Sundays works too.
The Social Media makes for strange bedfellows. It is not unusual to have a blogger show up at event reporting on-line for foreign websites. There are active journalists reporting in Toronto daily, via their I-Pads to sites in the US, Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan, China, and the Philippines.BTW: Bloggers, like me, are self-taught, self-employed and tend to not bother with the ethical and legal worries about accepting free food and liquor. With Twitter people news time is booze time (and bring on that free food).

This rush to accommodate I-pads and I-phones is not limited to reporters. People holding these media events are using them too!

Launch guests use an IPad to vote for the Grange Prize at the AGO

At the September launch for the Grange Prize (one of Canada’s larger prize award for photography) Art Gallery of Ontario staff members wandered amongst the public with I-pads. A ll four short listed artists were there, and a hundred or so attendees drank, noshed on snacks and listened to a music set by DJ Jaime Sin. While enjoying the launch you could check out the artists' work on the circulating I-Pad and vote as to which photographer would win the $50,000 prize.

The city's newest neighbourhood
art gallery, MJG Gallery officially secures its place among the city's hippest
art studios on December 8th, with the launch of its first exhibition: Heroes: Real, Fictional &
Close to Home. Opened only three months ago by artist Mark Gleberzon, the gallery
is more than a new addition to Cabbagetown, it has the rare distinction of
being owned and operated by a working artist.

The
Heroes exhibition showcases the work of
16 artists, including Gleberzon himself -- with portrayals ranging from the
tame to the surreal. From leather
to weather, mythology to mothers, and Superman to Spiderman; artists such as
Laura Culic, A1 Runt Currie, Stev'nn Hall, Bev Jenkins, Carol Westcott, G.
Elliott Simpson, Marjolyn Van Der Hart and Carol Westcott are among those
providing their interpretation. The exhibit
will appeal to art lovers, new collectors and interior designers working within
a limited budget.

Flight
by Marjolyn Van Der Hart's portrays the cyclist as hero, withstanding the bullying vehicles and celebrating the
connection to the urban environment. Her End of the Day symbolizes the energy and time
it takes to nurture family connections. Van Der Hart's artwork has been seen on CTV's Marilyn Dennis
Show, the Bruce Willis movie RED; and HGTV's "Income Property" and
"Pure Design".

The environment plays
hero in several of the exhibition's works. Laura Culic's encaustic Watershed is a tribute to
Lake Ontario and the heroic efforts of the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper
organization. Her painting depicts a map-like representation of the lake, with abstracted
areas of colour and texture. In Family Farm by Carol Westcott, she pays
homage to the farm where she grew up, a place that has provided food, shelter and a livelihood for nearly a century.

Artist Bev Jenkinsreflects on past and current heroes,as seen in her
neo-impressionist painting “Lest we forget”. In 2007, her "Bluebell Forest"was selected for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer
Exhibition in London, England.

Stev'nn Hall's portrait, Lee as Perseus attempts to
capture the vitality found within heroism, beginning with self doubt and fear,
and morphing into courage and action.
Hall has enjoyed
one-person shows in a number of art galleries. His portrait of Blue Rodeo’s Jim
Cuddy won Bravo's "Star Portraits.

Not for the faint
of heart, G. Elliott Simpson
puts forth a dark, sexual, and Transformer/video game view of the hero
archetype in his two studies: Fahrenheit
and Jimmie V6 & The Ibis. His photographs
have appeared in "Fab" and "The Advocate", and were
selected for the "10x10: 100 Portraits Exhibition" at The White House
Studio Project (June 2011).

The bold and the beautiful collide
throughout the exhibition. Monument, an abstract by Lex Buchanan, defiantly explore heroism within the realms of art, sculpture and
architecture. Buchanan's images investigate
dystopian visions of the city, where concrete
reality collides with the heroism of creative
worlds. In contrast, Andrea
Rinaldo presents: Totems inspired by the
beautiful (Japanese) Chiyogami papers she incorporates into her work.For this show,
these three 'totems' stand testament to the story of little Sadako
Sisaki who survived the bombing of Hiroshima but succumbed years later to
Leukemia.

MJG Gallery owner Mark Gleberzon anchors
the heroes theme with powerful pop culture renditions of Superman and Batman,
then softens his approach with understated canvases of his nephew Jared who
successfully fought and survived brain cancer. Comic-icons continue with Spiderman in action provided by Animation Connection, the only Toronto-based agent of authentic, studio
animation art and limited edition signed comic cells. Evin Collis' caricature-like watercolour NWMP celebrates
the heroism of Sam Steele one
of the North West Mounted Police's most valiant and celebrated officers. His second work, entitled Modern
Robin Hood is a contemporary urban re-contextualization
of the popular folk hero.

MJG Gallery's
Heroes Exhibition also includes works by: Blair Chivers, Bryan Levy-Young,
Sandy Middleton, A1 Runt and James
Stacey. Mediums range from oil on wood and oil on canvas; to acrylic and
encaustic and mixed media.

About Me

Like many other self-employed communicators in Toronto I have an exciting/active career. On one hand I am an active publicist working on many high profile projects including the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Toronto Caribbean Carnival and RBC Taylor Prize, Cundill Prize on the other, as a journalist I have one book published (The Sinking of the Mayflower) under my name and have ghost written two other books. I am the travel editor of Diver Magazine and I write travel stories, cultural stories and housing stories for a number of daily newspapers in Canada.I am a Huffington Post. For forty years I have been researching, watching and writing about the History of Diving in the Movies. In the pages of Diver Magazine and a variety of other publications, my articles have been titled Blood And Bubble movies. I have documented over 3,000 movies dating back to the 19th century that show actors/actresses diving or snorkeling on film. My website, with three Blogs and a photography section represent just four small aspects of my work. Always Busy. Never Bored. stephen@stephenweir.com.